Illini Basketball 2023-2024

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#51      

WhiteHorseWings

WhiteHorseWings
WhiteHorseWings
21ChampaignSt said:
Torvik has us as the 3rd highest rated team in the B1G behind Purdue and MSU (#1 and #7 overall) and just ahead of Indiana, Wisconsin, and Northwestern. So I would say you're both right. We should challenge for top 3 but we're also not clearly a tier above teams projected 4 - 6.

I have literally no idea what to expect because I've never seen half our players play basketball before.

*Torvik has some weirdness in his projections like Dain, Luke, and Ty being 6th, 7th, and 8th in minutes. Just used it because it's probably the best real time ranking available right now.
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Well they both told us they were being honest and you didn’t, so I don’t think we can believe you.
 
#52      

Combo

C
Combo
ILLFAN67 said:
I don’t want Ty as a pg. I watched the 1st version of that with Sergio McClain and it didn’t work. Ty is a wing who can pass and finish. Let’s not try and make him into something he’s not. Can’t handle the ball that well and can’t shoot free throws. He will improve in both this yr but not enough to be a pg.
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You are of course correct. There’s always a few size ******* that have a fantasy of putting the biggest lineup possible on the floor, with little regard for the skills of the players. PG is the last position where you want to put a square peg in a circle hole.
 
#54      

ThunderousBear

ThunderousBear
ThunderousBear
I thought there was no way either one was gonna come back. I saw them being mocked consistently in the second round. Guess NIL money is just that good now?
 
#60      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Thebigillini said:
As a donor. Yeah my money does in fact pay him. He’s currently the 7th highest paid coach in the country… are we getting ROI on that? Up for debate. We’ve heard the “nobody wants to play us” mantra before. It’s a lot of coach speak. I will agree to disagree with brads capable leadership. I think you forget where we finished in the big ten last year. We shall see but going into the season with this PG room is just bad. I’ll eat crow if I’m wrong but this is a trend now with brad since Ayo. He can’t land and develop a lead guard to the next level. That’s the buzz people are telling recruits.

(And thank you. Been a member for a while but restarted on a new account)
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It’s telling that you don’t count his previous two finishes before that in the Big Ten - higher than we’ve finished in nearly two decades and resulting in us hanging two banners - in his favor. Only negativity.
 
#62      

DReq

DReq
Always Illini
Central Illinois
DReq
IlliniCaboose said:
So what's our PG rotation look like in Spain?
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Can you answer these questions first?

1. Will anyone be injured before we go?
2. Will we add another player before Spain?
3. Will we lose any players before Spain?
4. Will we pick up any players in Spain? /s

Even after giving answers I have no idea but each of those possibles could be a major factor. Of course, we may be trying out some players at PG to see what they will do against competition other than us.

All of that says I have no idea but thanks for asking.
 
#65      

jumpingjack

J
jumpingjack
PXL_20230603_175459350.jpg

My eight year old is predicting a Natty after meeting Sencire (and Ty 🧡💙) today.
 
#68      

Illini in Italy

Illini in Italy
Illini in Italy
NJJ871 said:
Very true (bolded)...win the Big Ten, win the Big Ten tournament, finish 6th, doesn't matter - out first weekend of NCAA's.
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Real quick - without resorting to Google - where did the Illini finish in the tourney in the following years (dates chosen arbitrarily btw)?

- 1962
- 1972
- 1982
- 1992
- 2002
- 2012

no one (OK, not "no one", because this is the largest collection of Illini fans on the innernet) remembers unless it's either the 2005 team or the Flyin' Illini. But banners are forever, and conference and tourney championships matter. In over 100 years of Illinois men's basketball, we've won the conference 18 times (8 ties). In 24 years of the conference tourney, Illinois won three times. These titles matter. Sweet 16, Elite 8, even Final Four don't matter. Championships matter, and that includes the National Championship.

I'll get off my soapbox now . . .
:hailtotheorange:
 
#73      

Illini in Indiana

I
Indiana
Illini in Indiana
Combo said:
Why would you take a player whose strength is rebounding and inside scoring and try to make him a PG? Rebounding is way way down the list of important skills for a PG. If you want to convert one of our forwards to a PG, Domask would likely be a better (though not very good) option. At least he can shoot from the outside and is somewhat accustomed to playing on the perimeter.
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You make good points, and I probably did elaborate well my thoughts. I would love to see Ty on the floor as much as possible (he is just a winner), and as PG he'd be a bigger defensive asset than offensive, he's be great on the over used top of the key pick and roll. If we had to match up to the small quick PG, then throw in Harris.

I think offensively we have a few guys that can get the ball up the floor, and we can run the team PG position with a few different players. Ty would also be a tough match in isolation down load to guard. We are going to have a motivated TSJ & Coleman ready to step up in late shot clock situations. I don't want to see us get to the PG has to create a tough shot mode, and there aren't many Ayo's out there.
 
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